Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace
by BlitzKraig
Summary: Learn the dark and twisted origins of the catacombs. In the new world that is America, a group of young scholars come together to practice their art. They wished to help mankind but it's like the old adage says. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.


(Disclaimer: I don't own the binding of Isaac but if I did I would make this story into DLC.

A/N: Hello and welcome to my story. I haven't written in a very long time, and I hope that I haven't lost my touch. I know that the binding of Isaac isn't that popular as far as fanfic goes and that the good ones almost never get finished, but I figured I'd try my hand anyway. This won't be that long of a story and is here to serve an interesting and compelling origin to the gate way to hell in Isaac's basement. I hope you all enjoy.)

Chapter 1: Rise and Fall

Entry number 26. 8/15/1693. All seems quiet in the catacombs. Ever since we came to America to build them I can't remember it being this quiet. I feel uneasy, as if I'm forgetting something or have lost something, or maybe perhaps will lose something. Nevertheless, our studies have been going swimmingly. With all of us here to help each other we have broken more and more new ground with each passing day. I feel that we are getting close to finally finding the philosopher's stone. Think about the possibilities! No more pain and suffering, no more hunger, no more war. Mankind united under the new ultimate wisdom. My time is short. I must make this brief. Until next time, Jera.

Jera stretched in his chair before closing his journal and tucking his quill away, careful not to tip the ink well over again. He tugs at the collar of his white shirt and scratches his matching pale skin. There was a yawn at his feet and he looked under his desk to see Jezreel, his pet Greyhound. He smiled as he reached down to pet him. "I know, Jezreel. I'm quite bored too. What do you say we go check on the others?" The dog stood up and wagged his tail. Jera smiled and followed his canine friend's lead, standing up as well. "Alright lets go" he said patting his thigh. This was the "follow me" signal used to train Jezreel.

The young scholar walked out of his quarters and ran a hand through his short Roman military style hair. Walking through the halls of the second level of the catacombs he noticed that the darkness was starting to set in again. He'd have to ask Dagaz to fix that. They had put so much time into making this place a reality. After discovering for themselves that they all had similar attributes as far as their mystical abilities went, they wanted to test how far their abilities could go. But with the witch hunts in full swing they knew they would have to take measures to remain undetected, namely this series of floors all below ground.

The first underground floor was just five rooms spreading out in different directions with nothing in them. In the fifth room there was a hidden trapdoor. In the unlikely event that this trapdoor was discovered, it would lead down one more floor to what would appear to be just your average wine cellar. It was designed this way to throw off anyone who ever found the catacombs, which was unlikely. One floor deeper beyond this would be the last and biggest floor of the hide away, the caves.

The caves were where most of the work was done, where all of the training was done, and where all of the records were kept. Jera had descended the required stairs to reach the caves and saw Ehwaz manipulating the dirt at his feet, making it swirl and rise with the flowing moves of his arms. Ehwaz was a large man with a full brown beard, giving him a wise look to match his actual wisdom. "Ehwaz, I don't think you need to do these exercises everyday. You did build half of this place by yourself after all," Jera commented, rather than greeting his friend. Ehwaz let the dirt fall and turns around with a smile.

"Say at the age of twenty two you were able to lift two hundred pounds. If you lifted nothing for a year do you think you still be able to lift that weight?", the young sorcerer said with wisdom. "You always find a way to make me seem like a fool," Jera said as he crossed his arms and Jezreel sat at his feet.

"Oh you mean well," Ehwaz agreed jokingly. Jera punched him in the arm and drew his dagger. In a flash five more of the same dagger floated around his hand. "It's not as though I have lost my touch," he says as the daggers disappeared. "See to it that that doesn't change," Ehwaz said as he returned to his practice.

Jera continued on to his friend, Dagaz, who was meditating facing a wall. Dagaz was a tall, lean man. He wore a black coat with a hood. His long black hair was held back in a pony tail. The wall seemed to shroud itself in shadow before receding again. "Dagaz my friend,"' Jera slammed his hands down on his friend's shoulders, startling him. Dagaz jumped and yelled. "Jesus, Jera! Must you do that every time you see that I am trying to focus?", Dagaz said in an agitated tone. "Well you have to learn to stay on your toes even while you are focusing, if you don't you'll be dead before you can even use your spell. By the way your spell is weakening on the second floor. Can you please restore it before someone trips and breaks something?" Dagaz gives up on his current casting and the wall returns to normal. "I'll see to it but I can't guarantee that it won't be your Chinese tea set that is broken", he said jokingly as he stood up.

Jera looked over to the other side of the open room designated for training. Algiz was the youngest and spryest of the group. His very admirable focus was being able to protect others in battle. At the moment he had his shields deployed, one translucent shield moved with each of his forearms. He practiced fighting with both of them activated, the trick clearly being not hitting himself. His shields hovered above the sleeves of his green shirt as he punched, imagining the edge of it hitting an opponent.

Next to Algiz was Berkano. Berkano was honestly a scary man. To those who didn't know him he would be intimidating. His piercing green eyes made those who look into them feel like they are being invaded. His broad shoulders made him look much bigger and stronger than he really was. And his quiet and reserved demeanor made him seem as though he was always planning something. That last one may have very well been true though. Out from below his feet leagues of blue spiders crawled and skittered about and from behind his head swarms of flies emerged in single file. The insidious and yet seemingly unstoppable insects emerged from Berkano's body. Jera shivered at the thought of those things crawling from him as usual as he made his way closer to the study through the door at the other end of the training room.

In between Jera and the door was a wooden cask from the false wine cellar up above. Before he could make a move to step around the cask it seemed to have been crushed and shattered into splinters in almost an instant. This was the work of Hagalaz devoted all his efforts into the forces of nature and space. Namely what he had taken to calling "Gravity". After years of devoted practice, Hagalaz had learned how to manipulate the gravity of a specific object. He could make something crush itself under its own weight or float in mid air. "Thank you for clearing my path", Jera joked as he walked on the wreckage. "Any time," the shorter man said, making the wreckage float and form a circle.

Inside the study's book-lined walls were the last two scholars of their group. Ansuz had the ability of sight beyond sight. He could see through walls, he could see events happening in other places, and he could even predict the future. He was practicing his craft by reading a book without even opening it.

The other sorcerer was Perthro, whose focus was making the myths come true. He sat in his chair changing a chunk of lead to gold and back in his hand. "Ah, Jera nice of you to join the rest of us down here," he said as he turned his book upside down. "I was only late by a little bit. And besides someone has to keep records of our progress", said Jera. "Records for what purpose? For the Puritans to read aloud before they hang us?", Perthro commented back snidely. "The Puritans will revere us as an answered prayer once we've succeeded," Jera came back. "You know, the longer we've been working on this project the more I've been considering not sharing our discoveries. As many people as we could take in a fight I'm sure there are more people here in Massachusetts than we could handle. The people don't want to be saved, they want to be right. The second we show them what we're capable of, results or not, we will be pegged as witches and burned", Ansuz explained as he leaned back in his wooden chair. All the while Perthro listened. "What are you getting at?", Jera asked skeptically. Ansuz had been acting a little more hostile lately and Perthro had all but stopped socializing with the rest of the residents. "I'm saying that the only way the people will embrace us is if we force them to do so. If we become the new government." "Ansuz,you know exactly why we cannot do that. We did not work so hard to become kings. The entire reason we did this was to find wisdom enough to eliminate the need for kings and rulers", Jera stated adamently. "Jera we do not intend to hang with you. If you wish to hang alone, you will", Perthro said tapping his longer than average fingernails on the gold in his hand.

"No one will hang, I will hear no more talk like this", said the more or less academic head of the group before he walked out of the study.

After the door had been shut, Perthro sighed. "How disappointing", he said as he turned the gold into a ball of fire that withered away in the air. "It seems that we are the only two in the catacombs who see the light", Ansuz agreed. "That means we'll need to become stronger than originally planned. And set our plan forward", the Alchemist said pulling ice out of the air. "Tonight"' Ansuz said darkly. "Tonight will do just fine", he said as he turned the book back over, reveling it to be bound with a type of leather dyed black and marked with a dark red pentagram. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Quick as lightning an image popped into his head. The figure of a creature, fearful in all regards. Its black horns extending from it skull and turning into sharp points , his dark gray, unfeeling skin stretched tightly across its body with large tears revealing muscle and sinew. Its fangs made for rending flesh, far sharper than any this world had ever seen. Most frightening however was its eyes, they were not glowing red or that of an animal, however they were an azure blue perfectly reminiscent of a human, specifically one named Ansuz. The scholar laughed as he finished his vision. "So much power to be had. We simply cannot ignore this open door, my friend", he said, still chuckling to himself. Perthro grinned as he turned the wood of the table into oxygen, leaving a hole in it. Ansuz nodded his agreement. At that moment a chill fills the room causing the black cat under the table to quickly find her secret exit out of the room.

A blood curdling yell of agony forced Jera's eyes wide open and he was standing up before he was even fully awake. He ran into the hall to find it cast and filled with an erie red glow emitting from a giant pentagram spinning with Ansuz standing in the center. In that moment, the adrenaline in Jera's veins made him hyper aware. Within a second he could tell from the corner of his eyes that the others had joined him in the hall, that Perthro was standing in front of Ansuz triumphantly. Most troubling was the massive pool of blood being sucked into the spinning pentagram. Following the trail without even trying he saw a mass of limbs detached from their torso, and a severed head sporting a full brown beard. The face of a friend frozen for eternity, a testament to his final moments of agony and fear. The ever wise Ehwaz was no more.


End file.
